Boucher: Vote in Favor of Your Job—Say No to Union Initiatives

Your job might be on the ballot this November. Granted, your name and job title won't appear next to a fill-in-the-little-circle-yes-or-no question, but it might as well. Unions are pushing a package of ballot initiatives that will dramatically raise the cost of doing business in Colorado. Some companies will pull up stakes and relocate. Others will simply fold up shop. Your job will be at stake.

Think I'm exaggerating? Let's look at what the unions want you to vote for.

The unions are collecting signatures for an initiative that would require all businesses with 10 or more employees to provide annual cost-of-living raises to their employees. It wouldn't matter if the company is turning a profit or could even afford the increased payroll costs. Everyone would get a raise, every year, no matter what. Another initiative would require all companies with 20 or more employees to provide medical insurance. Once again, it wouldn't matter if the companies can afford it.

Now, as an employee, you might be saying to yourself: Good for me—a pay raise and guaranteed health insurance. But how long do you think your company would stay in business? The first down year would be disastrous: payroll costs would continue to go up while revenues declined. A modest economic downturn like the one we're in right now would lead to widespread Colorado business bankruptcies. It's tough to collect that larger paycheck when the HR department is boarded up.

The unions are also collecting signatures for initiatives which would allow employees to sue companies above and beyond our existing workers compensation program. Added to that, they're pushing an initiative which would allow anyone in Colorado to file suit against a company's management. Colorado would become the only state in the country where an executive could lose his or her life's savings if the company he worked for broke the law or was found liable in a civil suit. So much for attracting the next corporate headquarters or high-paying executive jobs to Colorado. We'd see an exodus of CEO's from our state.

It gets worse. If the increased payroll and legal costs to your employer didn't put your job at risk, the unions are also pushing a massive property tax hike on businesses in Colorado.

So do you still think I'm exaggerating when I state that your job might be on the ballot this November? If your job depends on the ability of your employer to pay your salary (and I've never heard of a non-governmental job that doesn't), then your job will be at stake.

But wait, the unions have you covered. You see, they're pushing a final initiative that would make it illegal for your employer to fire you without “just cause.” Companies would be required to file a written document explaining why they had to lay someone off (even if that reason is “we ran out of money because of state mandates”). That employee could then have a mediator decide whether or not the company's reason was “just.” If the mediator sides with the fired employee, the employee could get their job back (with back pay) and collect attorneys' fees.

Would you do business under those conditions? How long would your business survive? How long would you stay in Colorado?

David May, president and CEO of the Fort Collins Area Chamber of Commerce, paints a stark picture for the future of business in Colorado should these initiatives pass: “These measures will have the net result of ruining the business climate in Colorado. The unions who claim to be advocates for the jobs of working people will cause many Coloradans to be unemployed as businesses leave and fewer and fewer companies choose to make Colorado home.”

The unions want you to vote away your own job, and they're banking on you being short-sighted about economic reality. They're hoping you can be easily duped into believing that a mandated pay raise today won't have long-term ramifications on your job security. Frankly, it's kind of insulting.

One last note: We constantly hear candidates tell us how “business friendly” they are. So let's find out where they stand on this package of initiatives. Let's ask every candidate for office this fall—Republican and Democrat—if they support each of these initiatives. The answers will be very telling.